A Heart For Grace - A 'Return To Me' fantasy based on the movie
by notjaneausten
Summary: What if Grace receiving a new heart just when she needed it wasn't entirely a coincidence? And why Elizabeth Rueland's heart? Perhaps Marty's prayers to the Archangel Michael had been answered all along...
1. Chapter 1

**AN: So this one's a little out of the box for me; I usually write Walking Dead fics, but I've been off work poorly for a while and daytime tv is enough to drive anyone crazy...as a result I've been watching a lot of DVDs and this story just popped into my head...purely fantasy and credit for any lines from the movie goes directly to the scriptwriters as usual...**

Elizabeth Rueland was having a bad dream; that's all that it was. She was watching her inert body lying on a hospital trolley as an emergency response team raced her along a corridor. Even Bob was there too, the suit to his tuxedo jacket discarded and there were blood splatters all over his once pristine white shirt. "Hold on, Elizabeth. Please, hold on." He repeatedly whispered as he clung steadfastly to the side of the trolley and rubbed his hand along her arm, trying to reassure her of his presence. It was strange how even in her sleep she could almost feel the tingle of where Bob's hand had trailed along her dream-like self.

"Hello, Elizabeth." The voice coming from behind her sounded very familiar, but Elizabeth was focused on the way Bob was sobbing as he was told he couldn't follow her through the swinging white doors at the end of the corridor. "What's the last thing you remember?"

"I'm sorry?" Elizabeth turned around to face the voice, and saw a young beautiful blonde wearing a 1940's style pale blue suit. She blinked, there was something tugging at the back of her mind; where had she seen this woman before.

"This better for you, sugarplum?" In a flash, the young woman waved her hand and in her place was a rosy cheeked older woman wearing corduroy pants and a flannel shirt.

"Nana?" Elizabeth gasped in disbelief, "But how…? Why…?" Elizabeth shook her head to try and clear it, even going so far as to pinch her arm to wake herself up; that only caused her to yelp out in pain though. Her Nana led her over to the suddenly empty seats in the waiting area.

"No, sugarplum – you aren't dreaming, not this time. I'm sorry, Sweetie but I've been sent here to lead you through what's going to be a difficult time for you."

"I'm dead aren't I? I remember now, we'd just left the fundraiser party…Bob was driving, it had been raining and a truck just came out of nowhere…" Elizabeth buried her head against her Nana's shoulder and sobbed. "Why, Nana? We were just getting started….we were even talking about trying for a baby now that Sidney's enclosure is underway…Why?"

"Sugarplum; you're not dead yet, they're still working on you hard in there. But, you have a decision to make….and it's not going to be an easy one." Nana ran her hand over her beloved granddaughter's face, wiping away her tears as she had so often done as a child.

"What do I have to do?" Elizabeth sat up and straightened her shoulders, the doctor in her coming through; and Nana smiled at her fortitude.

"Bob's going to take this hard; harder than anyone of us could have ever expected. Lord knows that man loves you, Sugarplum – but, and I have to be the one to say this; there's someone out there that could be the one to help him through this…"

"Someone else, besides me you mean." Elizabeth rose from the plastic chair and started to pace around; she was beginning to feel a little pain from whatever was happening to her behind those white doors, and something told her that she didn't have a lot of time left.

"There is someone close by, she was meant to meet Bob a long time ago; but something happened and the two of you started dating and that was that…The universe has a funny way of working sometimes, Sugarplum, and this is your chance to put things back on the path that they should have been…"

"Who is she, Nana? This woman that Bob was destined to be with." Elizabeth was starting to feel more and more distanced from herself and needed all of the answers.

"Now, sugarplum, don't get yourself all upset about this. Lord knows that boy loves you and you will always have a special place in his heart; but this woman could be the one to fill in that tiny little piece that he's been saving…a space he didn't even know existed." Nana stood up and held out her hand to Elizabeth, "Come on, I'll take you to meet her. I warn you, it might come as a bit of a shock."


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: ****_Italics_**** denote interaction between Nana and Elizabeth that no one else can see or hear...**

With a wave of Nana's hand they were standing outside of a room in another part of the hospital. There was silence in the air, only broken up by the slow beating of the monitors at the side of a bed containing a young woman, whose face was almost grey and lips tinged blue from the lack of oxygen. The beeping came from the heart monitor and blood pressure cuffs that automatically took her readings and every now and then her breath rattled in her chest as she fought for air; despite the oxygen tube connected to her nose.

_"__Don't worry, no one can see us or hear us. We're just gonna listen in for a while before you make your mind up." Nana waved her hand again and suddenly they were standing at the end of the bed watching a tired looking blond woman reading aloud from a magazine aloud._

_"'__What Do You Expect Most From A Relationship?' A) Companionship, B) Sex; or C) Respect?" The blond_ hummed under her breath for a moment and smiled slightly, "I'd have to go with B, sex, but let's put C so we get a higher score. What do you think?"

"I think…" the younger woman wheezed out from the bed, causing the blond to immediately drop the magazine to race over to her bedside. It was the first sounds that she had made all day, and Meg was ready to help.

"What is it? What do you need? Is it your neck? I'll move the pillow… Your back? I can raise you up." Meg hovered, waiting for her best friend to let her know what she could do to help; Lord knows there wasn't anything anyone could really do to help, but there had to be something.

"Rosebud." Grace whispered as she turned her head weakly to the side, and slowly raised her eyelids to let Laura know that she was still capable of making a joke; even if it was a weak one at best.

"Very funny. You almost gave me a heart attack – if you'll excuse the expression." Meg raised her eyebrows at her friend looking so weak and frail in the bed. It had been weeks now since, Grace had been admitted and she was getting weaker with each passing day. All of the extended family had been taking it in shifts to sit with her; Meg's father was best friends with Grace's Grandfather who had raised her when her mother passed away from the same degenerative heart condition that had befallen Grace now.

"Meg, you can go home you know."

"To what? My cable's out." Meg joked as stepped back from the raised bed rail and looked around for the discarded magazine.

"Joe and the kids." Grace whispered weakly, just because she was stuck in here, didn't mean the rest of the troupe had to suffer along with her.

"They're okay." Meg reached onto the bedside cabinet and dipped a soft washcloth into the cool water, dabbing it over the beads of sweat popping out on Grace's forehead. Her body was fighting off a fever, which only made things worse for her system to battle to stay one step ahead. "It's good for him to be with them when they're comin' down from the sugar. He usually fuels them up and then they go through detox on my shift." Meg moved the washcloth down to gently wipe down Grace's arms and hands. "Well, you've seen it!" A tremulous smile appeared on Meg's face before she turned away quickly, there had been no answering smile from Grace and she could see the flush of high fever creeping over her cheekbones – it was going to be another long night of pumping antibiotics through her already weakened system if they were going to win this war.

"Promise me…you'll take care of my grandpa." The quiet plea from Grace had Meg turning back with a frown.

"Now what's got you talkin' like that?" It was unlike Grace to be so downhearted, up until now she had remained upbeat and confident that she would beat anything that was thrown at her; after all she'd been fighting this battle for nearly fifteen years now, so she was in the major league now.

"I may never get a heart. You know?"

"I know you'll get one, I know." Meg gripped the small crucifix she wore constantly and smiled softly over at her friend. "You'll be able to do so many things you were never able to do. That's what you've got to concentrate on." Meg leant over to gently rub Grace's arm. "Just think about it, Grace. Picture ridin' a bike."

"Oh yeah…ridin' a bike." A faint smile flickered over Grace's face as she thought about a shiny red bike, with a basket on the front and streamers on the handlebars.

"That's what you need to think about. Travelling, painting in Europe and dating really handsome men! It's got to happen to one of us."

"I'm getting a new heart, not a new ass…." Grace quipped drily as Meg fussed about with making sure the cotton sheets were neat and tidy at the bottom of the bed. They had wanted Grace to feel as comfortable as possible so everyone had brought something in from home, grandpa had made sure that Grace's pillowcases were changed regularly from home – that day it was white featuring a yellow daisy border. Meg and Joe had brought over Grace's easel and paints, although it had been some time since she'd been able to even sit up in her bed, let alone remain seated at the easel.

_At the far end of the room, Elizabeth looked over at Nana who was wiping a tear away from the corner of her eye. "That, sugarplum is Grace. She's the one that should have met Bob a long time ago. Her heart condition took over earlier than expected so she was home schooled rather than attending regular classes."_

_"__How bad is it?" Elizabeth asked; she felt an immediate kinship with the young brunette fighting so bravely._

_"__This was a couple of days ago; she fought off the infection and the fever's gone, but there are so few hearts available and she may not have a lot of time left…That's where you come in, sugarplum. There is a way that you can save Grace and still remain close to Bob; if you want to that is."_

_"__I do!"_

_"__There's a warning though; if you choose to do this, you cannot interfere or influence Grace in anyway. There's a slight 'bedding in' period of a few months while your thoughts and feelings will still be intact but after that you have to move on..."_

_"__Move on, where to exactly?" Elizabeth understood the first part, but was confused about the rest._

_"__Anywhere you wish to darlin'. Death isn't the end of anything, it is merely the beginning of a whole other adventure. Now let's go and see how far they're getting on with you; I can see that there isn't a lot of time left, so are you ready to make your decision?"_

_"__I am, Nana. I want to help Grace."_

_"__Good girl."_


	3. Chapter 3

The sudden ringing of the telephone cut through the busy noise of the bustling restaurant, Marty looked up from where he was stirring a pot of tomato paste and for a moment no one moved. There was only one telephone line that rang directly through to the kitchen; an old fashioned black telephone with a large glittery silvery heart shaped note pasted above it with 'Grace' written in pink pen.

"Oh, you've got it…."Marty started talking before he'd even picked up the telephone. "Haven't you? You have? Thanks be to God and all the saints in heaven!"

"Marty, let me talk to her!" Angelo, Marty's brother-in-law and partners in the restaurant gestured for him to hand over the phone but Marty wasn't about to be interrupted until he'd found out all of the facts.

"They've got it there now? I'll be right over; here's Angelo now." Marty handed the telephone over to Angelo; who was trying not to break down into tears.

"You got a heart, huh?" Angelo sniffed and chuckled at something that was said from the other end of the line. Marty grabbed his coat off the hook and threw remarks over his shoulder as he made his way out of the kitchen.

"Call everybody up now!"

_"__Isn't it amazing what a little 'influence' can do?" Nana nudged Elizabeth's shoulder as they hovered in the background listening to Angelo speaking with Grace on the telephone. The doctor's hadn't been sure about whether Grace would be the ideal recipient for Elizabeth's heart; considering the infection she had been fighting off the week before and the already weakend state of her poor body. Nana had simply used a little heavenly 'nudge' and soon the decision had been made that Grace would be the ideal candidate. Nana looked over at her granddaughter and smiled._

_"__We're soon gonna have to say goodbye, sugarplum. As soon as they take your heart you won't be able to see me anymore. I'll check in on you from time to time; but the next time we meet face to face is once you've past the settling in stage with Grace."_

_"__I'll miss you, Nana." Elizabeth reached over to hug her grandmother but found that she suddenly couldn't move her arms; and her body was wracked with pain._

_"__Just relax, sugarplum; it will all be over soon. See you later," Nana's soothing voice was the last thing she heard as Elizabeth found herself drifting in a cool, white mist which tasted faintly of antiseptic….._


	4. Chapter 4

"What, like an hour into it?" Meg asked one of the surgical team that had started wheeling Grace down the corridor towards the operating theatre.

"Someone will come out and tell you intermittently. Excuse me." The surgeon reassured Meg that the family would be kept as up to date as possible before moving ahead so that he could check whether the rest of the arrangements were in place.

"Oh! He's here," Meg suddenly smiled as she caught sight of Marty rushing through the unit, anxious to get a glimpse of Grace before she went in. The nurses pushing the trolley stopped so that they could have a brief conversation.

"Isn't she beautiful?" Marty took off his hat and bent over to kiss Grace's forehead, she reached over to grasp his hand.

"Grandpa, thank you for always taking care of me. And if I don't come out…I love you so much."

"Oh, you've got to come out. If those tulips you planted come up and see only me standin' there, they'll go right back into the ground again!"

"Thanks. Can you give me a kiss?" Grace whispered, squeezing Marty's hand for trying to make her laugh when she was so scared that she'd never wake up.

"OK, folks. Here we go." At the nod from the surgical director the team pushing the trolley started wheeling her towards the operating theatre.

"Pray, Grandpa. See you later…" Grace whispered as she took one last look at her Grandpa and best friend before the doors closed, cutting them off from her sight.

Five hours later, the weary heart surgeon looked up to check the monitors; nothing.

"Come on Grace, we've worked too hard on you to loose you now. I know your Grandpa's been praying to St Michael; let's see if we can't give him a helping hand..." The surgeon held his breath for a moment and then heaved a sigh of relief when a single wave appeared, followed by another and then a steady trend on the monitor had him turning and exchanging nods with the rest of his hardworking theatre staff.

"Well done, Gracie. The rest is up to you..." The heart surgeon stepped away from the table, letting his registrar do the closing up. "Good job, everybody."

Six miles away, Bob's eyes opened from where he had fallen asleep next to his front door; he was certain that he'd heard someone thumping on the door; but it was close to four o'clock in the morning and his parents weren't due in from the airport until after nine. Thump...thump...thump; there it was again; to faint to be someone at the door. It was like he could hear his own heartbeat coming from outside of his body...Speaking of which, he looked down to see he was still wearing his tuxedo shirt and trousers from the fundraiser - it was hard to believe that less than 12 hours ago, Elizabeth was laughing at him for trying to dry the rain off the bottom of his trousers from where he had taken Mel out for a quick run...Elizabeth; Bob crumpled against the door again, Mel crawling onto his lap in an attempt to offer him comfort.

"She's not coming home, Mel. It's just you and me now." Bob stroked the tips of Mel's ears and then slowly got up off of the cold tiled floor of the hallway. "I'm gonna hit the shower, you coming?" Mel just looked up at Bob and whined, before sinking back down to lay straight across the doorway once more. Bob shook his head, certain that he was hearing things; there was that thump, thump again; and left the dog along to mourn in his own way.


	5. Chapter 5

**One year later...**

"Hey Grace, you want me to take you to the doctors in my Caddy?" Wally looked up from where Emmet had just dealt him a very bad hand of poker and knew that Grace was scheduled to see her cardiologist that morning.

"No thanks, I'm gonna take my bike." Grace waved away the offer, it had been nearly a year since her operation and she was feeling absolutely fine.

"Let him take you in the car, suppose it rains?" Marty hovered around his Granddaughter, and looked up at the clear blue sky.

"Then I'll get wet." Grace remarked, winking over at Angelo who had raised his eyebrows at his brother-in-laws over anxious expression.

"But then you'll get sick." Marty started to state but one look at Angelo and Emmet had him holding his tongue.

"Grandpa…." Grace's tone warned Marty that he was getting that overprotective streak back again and he sighed as he followed her up to the mirror hanging behind the bar.

"So after your appointment, you'll go straight to Megan's, if your plans change you'll telephone me."  
>"Well, I may stop off at the Pussycat Club. One of their strippers quit." Grace remarked, a little sarcastically as she dabbed a little more concealer over the scar on her chest.<p>

"Grace, come on! It's been over a year. You can hardly see it anymore." Angelo walked over to take a seat on a stool at the bar and watched Grace pull the neckline of her top a little higher in an effort to hide the top of the scar.

"Nice try, Angelo. I just don't like all the questions, you know?" Grace shrugged at herself in the mirror and turned to face Marty.

"You just tell everybody that you're the luckiest girl in the world."

"I know, Grandpa. I know."

"You're beautiful… and no one's going to notice your chest!" Marty couldn't understand why Angelo gave a loud guffaw and Grace sent him a hurt look as she walked away.

"Thanks a lot… I'll see you later!" She called out to the rest of the guys in the back; the usual crowd were there, pretending they were playing poker but really they were some of the worse gossips in the neighbourhood. There was Emmett, Megan's father, Angelo, Marty and Wally; none of them were a day under sixty but they all cared very deeply for her like she was their own flesh and blood.

"Bye, Grace!" The guys called out in unison and Grace waved a hand as she wheeled her old bicycle out of the restaurant doors.

A few hours after her doctors appointment, Grace joined Megan and the children at the local zoo. Grace kept pausing next to every mailbox they passed and Meg finally called her on it as she looked behind to see Grace hovering with the letter in her hand.

"Mail it, Grace. You'll feel better."

"I know. Every time I do go to do it, I ….I can't."

"I don't know why not. It's anonymous." Meg sighed as Grace once more left the mailbox, still holding the little pink envelope in her hand. "It says you're grateful. I'd want to get it if I lost someone **I **loved. Wouldn't you?"

"Yeah, but…it just seems so strange. Like…sending a thank-you note for a heart. It seems so…not enough." Grace walked a little way ahead of the children, flapping the note in her hand. She'd written a letter to the donor foundation after experiencing a strange dream about a man in a tuxedo whirling around a woman on the dance floor, and then seeing the woman again smiling over her hospital bed just before she went into surgery. Whether it was an after effect from the anaesthetic or from the copious amount of pills that she had to take every morning, she just didn't know. But the dreams occurred every night, until the day that she finally sat down to write the letter.

"Don't you feel worse **not** sending it?" Meg asked, as she tried to coral her rowdy children. "Laura, stay with Mommy."

"Yeah. I mean, I **always **have it."

"I know Grace, but it's been a year! So go drop it in and move on, honey. I'm sure they have."

"Yeah…" Grace opened the flap and the letter was poised to be dropped down the shute.

"Let it go," Meg called out encouragingly, Grace took a deep breath and let the letter drop.

"Everybody clap for Auntie Grace. She just mailed a very important letter. Ok – gorilla's."

Bob walked slowly around Sidney's inside enclosure and noticed a smudge of dirt covering Elizabeth's name on one of the plaque's lining the walls. He bent down to rub off the dirt and looked over at the Gorilla that had captured so much of his late wife's attention. He didn't come here very often, it was just too hard to remain in a place that contained so much of what Elizabeth was. Bob sighed and started for the exit; brushing past a brunette that had just walked in with a bunch of children. Grace gasped and felt a little light headed all of the sudden.

"Aunt Grace, are you OK?" A tug on her sleeve from Adam had her looking down into his concerned young face.

"Yeah. Whatever it was it didn't hurt." Grace shrugged slightly as they continued to walk through the enclosure to where Meg and the other children were trying to copy the sign language used by a Doctor Elizabeth Rueland when Sidney first came to the zoo. For some reason, Sidney wasn't too enamoured with the children's efforts but when Grace lay her hands on the glass, Sidney immediately copied her movements. That raised a smile from everyone and when Grace said she was getting a little tired and the children looked like were staring to flop too, they decided to call it a day.

Later that evening, Grace lay in her bed thinking about finally getting up the nerve to post that letter and smiled as she drifted off to sleep...


	6. Chapter 6

_"__Now, sugarplum – what did I say about interfering? It's been well over a year, there should be nothing left of you influencing Gracie now, what do you have to say for yourself?" The slightly angry tone had Grace turning around to see a plump looking elderly lady glaring at her from what appeared to be the middle of a bustling Italian street._

_"__Sorry, do I know you? Hey, this is my painting!" Grace exclaimed as she took in the details of her surroundings; she saw the grey barely sketched in areas that she had yet to paint, as well as the softer tones of the watercolours that were barely dry._

_"__Elizabeth?" The lady peered closely at the woman standing before her, trying to discern whether any of her granddaughter remained within the young woman before her now._

_"__No…Grace; although Elizabeth does sound a little familiar….I used to dream of a lady named Elizabeth; she made me write a letter once that I didn't want to write…but it's been months since I've thought about her." Grace's nose wrinkled up as she tried to remember exactly what else Elizabeth had said in her dreams. "Oh, yeah…she also said that I'd meet my true love in a most unexpected place. Well, as you can see; I don't get out much; so unless he comes into the restaurant or is a frequent guest over at Megan's then I'm out of luck – Oh my God! Please tell me it's not Father Rudy!" Grace felt oddly comfortable strolling around this dreamscape with the woman by her side; it was almost as if she had known her forever. The older woman snorted when Grace mentioned Rudy's name and patted her on the arm._

_"__Don't you worry, sugarplum – it's not Father Rudy! Anything else unusual happen lately? Something that you can't quite explain?" _

_"__Well, I did feel a little lightheaded when I was at the zoo earlier, we'd just managed to corral the children through the entrance as some guy brushed past me on the way out – must have been a static discharge from his sweater, I guess."_

_"__Hmm, what exhibit were you going into at the time?" _

_"__The Gorilla's – something else strange happened in there too, this Gorilla came right up to the glass and pressed his hand right up against mine on the glass! It was pretty amazing!" Grace looked around to find herself alone on the dreamscape; suddenly the image of a bright red bicycle with a basket on the front appeared in front of a water fountain…not something that she had painted in the original._

_"__Well done, Sugarplum. Well done." The soft sounds of the woman's voice echoed as the painting slowly started to fade away; first the streets and then the houses, leaving only the bright red bicycle standing against the water fountain…._


End file.
